Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Review
  • Published:

Telomerase: Its clinical relevance in the diagnosis of bladder cancer

Abstract

More than 50 years ago, Papanicolaou recognized the importance of a non-invasive technique for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with carcinoma of the urinary bladder. Cystoscopy, however, has remained the ‘gold standard’ since no currently available non-invasive method can compete with cystoscopy's sensitivity and specificity. The detection of the ribonucleoprotein telomerase or the telomerase subunits human telomerase RNA (hTR) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in urine samples offer new diagnostic perspectives. The present article presents a review of publications in the literature and evaluates their clinical relevance. The experimental studies reported to date are very promising and show that telomerase exactly fulfils the requirements for a good diagnostic marker for carcinoma of the urinary bladder. The diagnostic application remains in an experimental stage and telomerase is still several steps away for routine use as a clinical parameter. The remaining steps leading to its routine clinical application will be discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abel PD . 1988 Br. J. Urol. 62: 103–109

  • Arai Y, Yajima T, Yagihashi A, Kobayashi D, Kameshima H, Sasaki M, Tanaka K, Kuwajima K, Miyao N, Tsukamoto T, Watanabe N . 2000 Clin. Chim. Acta 296: 35–44

  • Avilion AA, Piatyszek MA, Gupta J, Shay JW, Bacchetti S, Greider CW . 1996 Cancer Res. 56: 645–650

  • Bialkowska-Hobrzanska H, Bowles L, Bukala B, Joseph MG, Fletcher R, Razvi H . 2000 Mol. Diagn. 5: 267–277

  • Cassel A, Rahat MA, Lahat N, Lindenfeld N, Mecz Y, Stein A . 2001 J. Urol. 166: 841–844

  • Dalbagni G, Han W, Zhang ZF, Cordon-Cardo C, Saigo P, Fair WR, Herr H, Kim N, Moore MAS . 1997 Clin. Cancer Res. 3: 1593–1598

  • de Kok JB, Ruers TJ, van Muijen GN, van Bokhoven A, Willems HL, Swinkels DW . 2000c Clin. Chem. 46: 313–318

  • de Kok JB, Schalken JA, Aalders TW, Ruers TJ, Willems HL, Swinkels DW . 2000b Int. J. Cancer 87: 217–220

  • de Kok JB, van Balken MR, Ruers TJ, Swinkels DW, Klein Gunnewiek JM . 2000a Clin. Chem. 46: 2014–2015

  • Duncan RE, Bennett DW, Evans AT, Aron BS, Schellhas HF . 1977 J. Urol. 118: 43–45

  • Feng J, Funk WD, Wang SS, Weinrich SL, Avilion AA, Chiu CP, Adams RR, Chang E, Allsopp RC, Yu J . 1995 Science 269: 1236–1241

  • Gamarra MC, Zein T . 1984 Urology 23: 23–26

  • Gelmini S, Crisci A, Salvadori B, Pazzagli M, Selli C, Orlando C . 2000 Clin. Cancer Res. 6: 2771–2776

  • Harrington L, Zhou W, McPhail T, Oulton R, Yeung DS, Mar V, Bass MB, Robinson MO . 1997 Genes Dev. 11: 3109–3115

  • Heine B, Hummel M, Demel G, Stein H . 1998 J. Pathol. 185: 139–144

  • Heney NM, Ahmed S, Flanagan MJ, Frable W, Corder MP, Hafermann MD, Hawkins IR . 1983 J. Urol. 130: 1083–1086

  • Hiyama T, Yokozaki H, Kitadai Y, Haruma K, Yasui W, Kajiyama G, Tahara E . 1999 Virchows Arch. 434: 483–487

  • Ito H, Kyo S, Kanaya T, Takakura M, Inoue M, Namiki M . 1998a Clin. Cancer Res. 4: 1603–1608

  • Ito H, Kyo S, Kanaya T, Takakura M, Koshida K, Namiki M, Inoue M . 1998b Clin. Cancer Res. 4: 2807–2810

  • Kamata S, Kageyama Y, Yonese J, Oshima H . 1996 Br. J. Urol. 78: 704–708

  • Kavaler E, Landman J, Chang Y, Droller MJ, Liu BC . 1998 Cancer 82: 708–714

  • Kilian A, Bowtell DD, Abud HE, Hime GR, Venter DJ, Keese PK, Duncan EL, Reddel RR, Jefferson RA . 1997 Hum. Mol. Genet. 6: 2011–2019

  • Kim NW . 1997 Eur. J. Cancer. 33: 781–786

  • Kim NW, Piatyszek MA, Prowse KR, Harley CB, West MD, Ho PL, Coviello GM, Wright WE, Weinrich SL, Shay JW . 1994 Science 266: 2011–2015

  • Kinoshita H, Ogawa O, Kakehi Y, Mishina M, Mitsumori K, Itoh N, Yamada H, Terachi T, Yoshida O . 1997 J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 89: 724–730

  • Kitsukawa SI, Ohyashiki K, Yahata N, Ebihara Y, Aizawa T, Ito T, Miki M . 1999 Int. J. Oncol. 15: 505–510

  • Kriegmair M, Baumgartner R, Knuchel R, Stepp H, Hofstadter F, Hofstetter A . 1996 J. Urol. 155: 105–109

  • Kuniyasu H, Domen T, Hamamoto T, Yokozaki H, Yasui W, Tahara H, Tahara E . 1997 Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 88: 103–107

  • Kyo S, Kunimi K, Uchibayashi T, Namiki M, Inoue M . 1997 Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 107: 555–560

  • Lancelin F, Anidjar M, Villette JM, Soliman A, Teillac P, Le Duc A, Fiet J, Cussenot O . 2000 BJU. Int. 85: 526–531

  • Lee DH, Yang SC, Hong SJ, Chung BH, Kim IY . 1998 Clin. Cancer Res. 4: 535–538

  • Lin Y, Miyamoto H, Fujinami K, Uemura H, Hosaka M, Iwasaki Y, Kubota Y . 1996 Clin. Cancer Res. 2: 929–932

  • Linn JF, Lango M, Halachmi S, Schoenberg MP, Sidransky D . 1997 Int. J. Cancer 74: 625–629

  • Maitra A, Rathi A, Gazdar AF, Sagalowsky A, Ashfaq R . 2001 Cancer 93: 73–79

  • Mao L, Schoenberg MP, Scicchitano M, Erozan YS, Merlo A, Schwab D, Sidransky D . 1996 Science 271: 659–662

  • Mayfield MP, Shah T, Flannigan GM, Hamilton Stewart PA, Bibby MC . 1998 Int. J. Mol. Med. 1: 835–840

  • Meyerson M, Counter CM, Eaton EN, Ellisen LW, Steiner P, Caddle SD, Ziaugra L, Beijersbergen RL, Davidoff MJ, Liu Q, Bacchetti S, Haber DA, Weinberg RA . 1997 Cell 90: 785–795

  • Morrison AS, Buring JE, Verhoek WG, Aoki K, Leck I, Ohno Y, Obata K . 1984 J. Urol. 131: 650–654

  • Müller M, Heine B, Heicappell R, Emrich T, Hummel M, Stein H, Miller K . 1996 Int. J. Oncol. 9: 1169–1173

  • Müller M, Krause H, Heicappell R, Tischendorf J, Shay JW, Miller K . 1998 Clin. Cancer Res. 4: 1949–1954

  • Nakamura TM, Morin GB, Chapman KB, Weinrich SL, Andrews WH, Lingner J, Harley CB, Cech TR . 1997 Science 277: 955–959

  • Papanicolaou GN, Marshall VF . 1945 Science 101: 519–523

  • Rahat MA, Lahat N, Gazawi H, Resnick MB, Sova Y, Ben Ari G, Cohen M, Stein A . 1999 Cancer 85: 919–924

  • Ramakumar S, Bhuiyan J, Besse JA, Roberts SG, Wollan PC, Blute ML, O'Kane DJ . 1999 J. Urol. 161: 388–394

  • Rehn L . 1895 Arch. Clin. Chir. 50: 588–600

  • Sallinen P, Miettinen H, Sallinen SL, Haapasalo H, Helin H, Kononen J . 1997 Am. J. Pathol. 150: 1159–1164

  • Shay JW, Bacchetti S . 1997 Eur. J. Cancer 33: 787–791

  • Soder AI, Hoare SF, Muir S, Going JJ, Parkinson EK, Keith WN . 1997 Oncogene 14: 1013–1021

  • Wu YY, Hruszkewycz AM, Delgado RM, Yang A, Vortmeyer AO, Moon YW, Weil RJ, Zhuang Z, Remaley AT . 2000 Clin. Chim. Acta 293: 199–212

  • Yamamoto M, Wu HH, Momose H, Rademaker A, Oyasu R . 1992 Cancer Res 52: 5329–5333

  • Yashima K, Piatyszek MA, Saboorian HM, Virmani AK, Brown D, Shay JW, Gazdar AF . 1997 J. Clin. Pathol. 50: 110–117

  • Yokota K, Kanda K, Inoue Y, Kanayama H, Kagawa S . 1998 Br. J. Urol. 82: 727–732

  • Yoshida K, Sugino T, Tahara H, Woodman A, Bolodeoku J, Nargund V, Fellows G, Goodison S, Tahara E, Tarin D . 1997 Cancer 79: 362–369

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Markus Müller.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Müller, M. Telomerase: Its clinical relevance in the diagnosis of bladder cancer. Oncogene 21, 650–655 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1205071

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1205071

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links